The Best Baked Ziti

We're big Sopranos fans in this house. We are also big Baked Ziti fans. Whenever I make it and there's leftovers, my better half jokes how we should freeze it and if I die, he'll always have my Baked Ziti. Until a conniving Janice-type comes along I guess. 😉

But in all seriousness... this is the real deal. It's so good, classic American-Italian style comfort food. You can't go wrong.

Classic Baked Ziti

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This ain’t your Nonna’s ziti.It’s creamy, cheesy, and picky kid approved — just how Carmela would’ve made it if she didn’t have to deal with Tony’s shit. Layered with a rich ragu, gooey mozzarella, and creamy bechamel and enough comfort to shut anyone up at Sunday dinner.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

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Olive Oil

1 lb Italian Sausage, removed from casing*

1 large onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

500g of passata

1 can diced tomatoes

salt and pepper, to taste

¼ cup (2 oz) butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

grating of nutmeg

½ cup grated parmesan

1lb (dry weight) ziti or penne pasta, cooked and drained

2 cups grated mozzarella

Method

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F. 

   Cook ziti according to package directions. Drain and set aside. 

   Heat some olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onions until slightly softened and add sausage, stirring to break up.  

   Once sausage is browned, add garlic, sugar and oregano. Stir in passata and tomatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and season with salt, pepper and/or sugar to your taste. 

   Meanwhile, make the béchamel.  Heat butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan.  Add flour and stir for a minute.  Slowly whisk in milk and bring to a boil.  Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in nutmeg and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.  

   Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with butter and layer half the pasta, half the meat sauce and half the béchamel in it.  Repeat and top with mozzarella.  

   Bake for 30-40 minutes until bubbling.  

   Allow to stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes

If you cannot get Italian sausage, use normal Irish, chipolata or herb sausages and add a tablespoon of ground fennel seeds, an additional tablespoon of oregano, teaspoon of basil and a quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes.

This freezes beautifully!

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